It's simple: He balances play-calling or he's gone

Please return Mike Martz from the coaching booth to the sidelines while Jay Cutler still is ambulatory instead of in an ambulance.

Martz might see the game better up there, but he really needs to hear what's going on with the Bears offense. And nothing screams the need for Martz to change louder than the thud of another Cutler sack.

The Bears already have given up 11 sacks — the same number Cutler absorbed the entire 2008 season with the Broncos.

Does Lloyd's of London have a Chicago office?

If Cutler were the Bears' child, DCFS would have been at Halas Hall first thing Monday morning. This persistent football neglect for Cutler's health and safety threatens to ruin the maturation of a quarterback unless somebody applies some tough love to Martz.

This year, it takes more than just a meeting. It calls for an ultimatum.

Martz immediately must stop calling plays that make it appear he's more concerned with keeping his legacy intact than his quarterback — or else. Coach Lovie Smith promised to talk with Martz about the lack of balance, but will the stubborn play-caller listen? If only Martz's quarterback were as hard to reach as he seems.

If I were general manager Jerry Angelo or Smith, I would make clear if Martz goes rogue once more, as he did when the offense inexplicably had a 3-to-1 pass-to-run ratio in the third quarter of a close game, the Bears will move on. One more game plan recklessly putting Cutler in harm's way, the way calling 52 passes to 11 runs did, and I either would fire Martz or strip him of play-calling duties on the spot.

In turning down a contract extension last winter, Martz turned the last year of his deal into a prove-it season like several Bears players. Like those modest investments, the Bears have little to lose by going a different direction sooner rather than later if they sense the next man up would be best for a good team rightfully thinking playoffs.

That doesn't sound like a bold, confrontational approach the Bears typically embrace, but lack of urgency with Martz now only threatens to lead to regret later. The Bears can adopt a zero-tolerance policy with Martz because they have a legitimate alternative in offensive line coach Mike Tice.

Tice played a major role in the Great Intervention of 2010 that saved the season. He would be less likely to stick with a scheme that isn't working just because it worked so well when Orlando Pace was protecting Kurt Warner.

When the Titans wanted to talk to Tice about their vacant offensive coordinator position — which the Bears wisely blocked — it wasn't because of his vast knowledge of the seven-step drop. An innovator, Tice isn't. But he understands no quarterback can push the ball down the field if the opposition consistently is peeling him off it. The Bears don't need fancy from their offense; they need functional.

Beating the Falcons, who then beat the Eagles, set the standard around Chicago. The Bears proved in their season opener they have enough talent to return to the postseason — unless they coach their way out of the playoffs.

Despite the sky-is-falling reaction in the city, the Bears even can beat the Packers at Soldier Field if Martz calls a smart game against a defense that has struggled. But two games in, Martz already is as iffy as the offensive line.

Blaming Bears wide receivers for not getting open or Cutler for not identifying the blitz misses the broader point. Simply, production in the passing game will come with better protection. Protection will improve once Martz starts reducing plays that include deep drops and empty backfields. Ask the Cowboys or the Eagles how important protecting the franchise quarterback is.

Cutler excels in moving pockets, but seldom does Martz employ what worked so well for Cutler in Denver. An edge pass rush will slow down when given reason to respect an off-tackle run or a screen pass. Even in a passing league, Matt Forte should have nearly twice as many carries as receptions, not the same amount (10) as he did Sunday.

Never have the Bears needed to deliver a strong message to Martz more than this week, with right tackle Gabe Carimi out with a knee injury. Carimi's absence makes way for Frank Omiyale, which essentially gives the Bears the same group that gave up 56 sacks in '10, minus Olin Kreutz.

Hold Angelo responsible for dangerously keeping a weakness a weakness. But blame his offensive coordinator for not changing once it became obvious his porous line hadn't.